The Sound of Trumpets
by FrankandJoe3
Summary: It's a far-fetched idea, but the team's willing to do whatever it takes to try and change Robin's mood.


**Disclaimer: The mentioned characters belong to DC, tied in with their Young Justice personas. **

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When Wally suggested it, the hesitance was passed around the small team of heroes like a hot potato to the point everyone had a conflicted expression over their features like a searing burn in their fingertips. The wary frown and the furrowed brow was near unanimous between the five seated out in the living space, but the consideration on each face was stronger than any other emotion.

They were going to do it.

That's how Megan wound up outside of Robin's door, transformed to look like a fifteen foot elephant—anything higher would've broken through the ceiling—with two sharp, pristine tusks bared and feet awkwardly pacing back and forth. Maybe it was a dumb idea, but the team was willing to do anything to break their friend out of his funk and get him back to giggling.

"_3… 2…_" Wally mouthed, watching the Martian for her nod before he zipped past the fourteen year old's room with a scream.

Conner and Kaldur bolted fast after him with surprised, if not fearful gasps and Artemis let out a loud, "_Why can't I just shoot the damned thing?!_" as she ran past. Megan took that as her cue and reared up, trumpeting as loud as she could, awkwardly charging after them for a portion of the hallway until she was back to Robin's door, stomping and snorting about aggressively.

Ten seconds became fifteen and the 'elephant' charged up and down the hall once more for good measure, beginning to grow impatient and hopeless.

"Robin! Help!" the redhead made herself scream, not pausing a moment to stop charging.

The words had barely left her lips when a thick smoke billowed up around her and had her knees in the process of buckling, her trumpeting interrupted as she breathed in the chemicals. Megan blinked the beady eyes that now served as her own, squinting in surprise to see a small ebony through the fog standing calmly with his hands raised in what looked like a comforting surrender.

"There, there, girl," Robin's voice parted his lips, his uncovered eyes tenderly holding her gaze.

There was a small smile on his lips and he slowly stepped forward, backtracking when the Martian forced herself to rear up again with a half-hearted trumpet. The ebony was obviously caught off-guard, but he didn't look scared for even a moment. His hands stayed raised and his eyes held.

"Shh… Shh… it's okay, really. I promise. I'm not going to hurt you…" his voice was a soothing lull, almost a purr to match the smile slipped over his lips.

Megan didn't even remember touching her feet down until a gentle hand ghosted over her trunk, soft nothings muttered from the fourteen year old's lips. It almost instantly calmed her to the point her eyelids fluttered in exhaustion. Sleep had never sounded so great. It didn't help that the trunk-petting was relaxing.

"See? I'm right here, girl… Shh… now what are you doing out here? You wouldn't happen to know my little Zitka, now would you?" there was a chuckle under his breath that made him sound the equivalent of Prince Charming and the girl let herself buckle down onto her knees and relax into the gentle touch, something like a purr leaving her lips a lot lower than she'd like it to have sounded.

Robin on the other hand seemed overjoyed at the noise, nuzzling her trunk with the smallest genuine grin.

"That sounds just like my little Zitka… She used to purr like crazy when I'd do that. Used to drive mom and dad crazy… I swore I was gonna run away and just go live with the elephants in Africa. I figured I had big enough ears already," he flicked them for emphasis with another soft laugh.

He pressed his face to the rough of her trunk, peeking back down the hallway and tensing for a second as he recognized the others pressed against the bend of the corner. Gently resuming petting her trunk, he slipped his communicator from his belt and slid it into ear.

"I've got her calm, guys," he kept his voice soothing and calm, "You guys run down to…"

The ebony jerked back when he heard his voice doubled back from above, hands curling into fists as the gears started turning in his head. There was no way an elephant could just get into the cave. This had to be Megan or Martian Manhunter, probably Megan considering the sex of the beautiful creature. His eyes grew wide and his cheeks grew heated.

"What part of you was I petting, Miss M?" he managed out awkwardly, rubbing his neck as he refused to meet her eyes.

The elephant seemed to stiffen as well as it shrank back to a sixteen year old red-haired girl with the softest of smiles.

"Just my nose," she assured him, tousling his hair before he wrenched himself back from her grip and slipped back into his room.

The door slid shut with a hiss and the hallway fell quiet. Megan took that as the opportunity to let herself start to collapse, the gas' effect starting to officially seep in now that she was regular sized. Wally zipped by fast enough to catch her, luckily, and ran them into the living space where the rest of the team slipped in to join them, all amazingly curious as to what had been said.

For a moment, the redhead hesitated in relaying what had been murmured softly to her, but she didn't want all the confusion stuffed into only her mind.

"It uh… Maybe it was the gas getting to my head… but he… Robin seemed to know what he was doing. He wasn't afraid to see an elephant in a fit outside his room. He knew how to calm me—er, it, down. He was talking softly and… mentioned… kept talking about a… Zitka. I thought it was a person at first, but… obviously an elephant of his own," she paused, hiding her face in her hands for a long breath, "He looked so happy…"

Wally's face darkened for just a second—maybe it was because he was in everyone's peripheral—and he nodded before straightening delicately. He rubbed at his neck awkwardly, eyes averting.

"Yeah, uh… he, yeah. I'll… I'll be back."

And like that, he zipped down the hall to Robin's room. In the silence, it was easy to hear the door hiss open and a string of apologies blurted out in a rush, but it wasn't easy to explain a second of it.

"Does anyone understand what just happened?" Kaldur was at a loss for words, staring at his open fists on his thighs.

There wasn't an answer for him.

"I don't even know why we did it. Robin can handle himself. He doesn't need an _elephant _to snap out of whatever's got him down," Artemis shook her head and brought herself to her feet as well, walking off in the direction of the ZETA tube.

Megan let out a collective sigh, wiggling her nose lightly upon still feeling the gentle touch of the blue eyed boy.

_What are you hiding, Robin? _

That was a question for another day, though, she decided as she brought herself to her feet.

"I'm going to go start dinner. Would you two like to help me?" she asked the remaining two in the room.

Kaldur headed off in Artemis' direction and Conner followed her into the kitchen. Like that, the cave was back to normal and it was as if nothing had happened in the first place.

At least until Red Tornado came in and tripped on one of the elephant foot sized holes in the floor.

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**-F.J. III**


End file.
